What happens when shop agents help in development? Success happens.

Two years ago, Sunrise introduced Smart Upgrade and Flex Upgrade. To date, they have been the most successful and innovative offerings. The sales targets have been far exceeded. This success is partly down to our Sunrise employees in the shops, who were involved in developing the sales strategy at an early stage and are highly motivated to sell products that they really believe in. We spoke to Christopher and Joy.

Brunhilde Mauthe

August 6, 2024 ^. 4 minutes read

"One of the factors behind this success is the early involvement of a wide variety of internal stakeholders," says Hector Zounon, Senior Director Direct Retail. "It wasn’t just product developers, marketing or IT employees who were involved, but also very specifically and deliberately shop agents," he stresses. They were really helpful in devising the sales strategies. No one knows better than the shop agents what customers want, how to approach them and how to appeal to them.

The new, innovative Smart Upgrade and Flex Upgrade products were launched with a roadshow. The sales figures show that the target set at the time has been far exceeded – a real Sunrise success story.

Sunrise's Flex and Smart Upgrade

Flex Upgrade allows customers to exchange or repair their devices anytime, includes insurance against damage or theft, and provides additional services at no extra monthly cost compared to standard installment plans. This initiative builds on Sunrise's Smart Upgrade, which offers a discount of up to 25% when customers purchase a new smartphone with a device plan, with future exchange options, and emphasises sustainability by refurbishing or recycling returned devices.

Right on the frontline and able to provide input

One of the shop employees who helped to develop the sales strategy for Flex Upgrade is Christopher Emilio Debellis Ramirez.

"It was great to be involved in this process and to be able to contribute my knowledge and experience"

he says proudly. He was the only shop agent alongside six shop managers who were able to be involved in actively shaping this process.

As the first step, they were asked a number of questions, such as: What do you think of the product? Does it make sense to sell the customer a new mobile phone today and then allow them to exchange it tomorrow?

For Christopher, it was clear that the product was perfect for today’s customers and would be fun to sell, because it’s great added value for the customer. Although mobile insurance was already available from Chubb, the customer was obliged to report the damage to Chubb first, which was inconvenient and delayed matters. Today, thanks to Flex Upgrade, customers can visit a shop with their broken device and then leave with a new one; the only thing the customer has to pay is the amount of the excess, which depends on the value of the device and is no more than CHF 150.

Besides their opinion, the product developers also wanted to hear sales pitches. These were so good that they were then adopted almost unchanged and passed on to the shop agents.

Christopher Emilio Debellis Ramirez – top seller in 2021 and 2022

Christopher is a sales agent and has been with Sunrise since 2018. He did his apprenticeship in a shop in Adliswil before going on to work in a number of Sunrise shops – Glattzentrum, Airport, Winterthur, Löwenstrasse Zurich and now Zurich Stadelhofen. In 2021 and 2022, he was the top seller at the Airport shop. He’s been deputy at the shop in Zurich Stadelhofen since the start of 2024 and is looking forward to becoming official deputy manager soon and having the chance to work for Sunrise for many years to come.

If it were up to Christopher, not only should many more shop agents be involved in the product-development process, they should also be involved at an earlier stage. After all, they’re the ones spending hours each day on the frontline meeting customers and they know what those customers want (and what they don’t!). He’d be happy to be consulted again soon, because he finds Sunrise fascinating and is fully behind the products.

A real passion for Smart and Flex Upgrade

And how does Joy Dutler see things? She’s the manager at the Sunrise shop in the Shopping Arena in St. Gallen. Aged 23, she’s one of the youngest Sunrise shop managers; she even did her apprenticeship with Sunrise. Although she wasn’t involved in devising the sales strategy, she sells the product with a real passion. "Because it’s perfect and just what the customer’s looking for," says Joy. «Also,» she adds, "the customer gets the smartphone 25% cheaper and can exchange it at any time with Flex Upgrade." She cites the example of a broken mobile. With Flex Upgrade, the customer’s smartphone is replaced immediately, and they don’t have to wait for it to be repaired. Joy enjoys highlighting the many benefits of Smart and Flex Upgrade to the customer and is proud that Sunrise is leading the way as a premium brand with this unique product.

Joy Dutler, youngest Sunrise shop manager in the East region

Joy’s had a storybook career at Sunrise. After completing her apprenticeship in a Sunrise shop, she left the company to do her vocational diploma. But as is so often the case in life, things turned out differently. Cristian Vega, former Regional Sales Manager East (now Head of Mobilezone), asked her in 2020 whether she’d like to come back to Sunrise. She agreed enthusiastically. In 2021, she became a deputy (precursor to official Deputy Shop Manager) and at the same time «Store Agent Technical Expert», a new title that had just been introduced. In February 2023, Joy moved to the Sunrise flagship shop in St. Gallen to develop and complete the DSM (Deputy Shop Manager) path.

Unfortunately, the manager of the flagship shop in St. Gallen became ill and Joy ran the shop as deputy before she was appointed official Deputy Shop Manager in July. In December of the same year, she was asked by Bajram Zenuni, Regional Manager, whether she felt ready to start working as interim Shop Manager in the Shopping Arena from 1 January 2024. Her answer: "I'm more than ready!"

Following six months of probation, Joy has been the youngest Sunrise Shop Manager in the East region since 1 July 2024.

More interaction

What does she wish for? More interaction between the shops and the regions, Ambassador House and the hotline. But she also says that head office is working more and more closely with the shops, asking them for their opinion and trying to understand what impact processes and adjustments could have in shops. Joy’s thrilled that the people in her shop are being listened to more and more.